Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

”What’s wrong, Your Majesty?”

Seeing Fang Zheng stop in his tracks, Daji hurriedly stopped as well. Then she frowned and swept a glance over those farmhands. Right at that moment, the farmhands were clearly getting hyped, spittle flying as they kept talking.

”I heard Boss Hann went into the mountains to hunt, and he ran into a deer. That deer was real weird—saw Boss Hann and didn’t even try to run, just stood there staring at him. That really surprised Boss Hann, and just when he was planning to go over and kill the deer, the deer actually spoke human words. It said Boss Hann’s lifetime of killing sins was too heavy, against Heaven’s harmony, so that’s why his old mother had gotten into trouble. That scared Boss Hann half to death...”

”What kind of messed up nonsense is that...”

Hearing this, Daji frowned. To her, what the guy was saying made no sense at all. That Boss Hann should be a hunter, going up the mountain every day to hunt just to make a living. If you follow that kind of brain-dead logic, then wouldn’t all of them carnivore Yokai be doomed to horrible deaths?

And all those pig slaughterers, cow slaughterers, sheep slaughterers—if you really follow that logic, the lives that died by their hands are beyond counting. Does that mean their entire families should blow up?

Humans always try to force their own values onto animals, but in reality animals couldn’t care less about the crap in your head. The weak are meat, the strong eat—it’s Heaven’s law, perfectly natural. That’s what the world’s Truth is. How is that violating Heaven’s harmony?

Gotta be mentally handicapped, right?

”......”

Fang Zheng waved his hand, signaling Daji not to speak. Then he looked again at that group of farmhands and continued listening.

”And then?”

”And then, of course Boss Hann was scared out of his wits. He didn’t even know what exactly had appeared in front of him. Anyway, he hurriedly knelt and kowtowed, begging it to save his life. And when Boss Hann raised his head again, the deer was gone. Then Boss Hann threw away all his hunting tools, swore he’d never go up the mountain to hunt again. And after he came down the mountain... his mother’s illness got better.”

”That’s it?”

Turns out people love dramatic stories. The farmhand across from them clearly didn’t have the talent of a Scholar storyteller, leaving everyone listening utterly speechless.

”You’re not even connecting the dots here.”

”What can I do? That’s exactly what Boss Hann told me...”

There was nothing more to be gotten out of these farmhands. Fang Zheng shook his head, then turned and left the teahouse.

”Your Majesty, you’re interested in this matter?”

”Yeah.”

Hearing Daji’s question, Fang Zheng nodded.

”That familiar pyramid-scheme playbook and completely off-the-rails sophistry do ring a bell... Who is that Hann-whatever they mentioned?”

Daji raised her hand, and soon a little bird spiraled down from the sky and landed on her finger. Daji placed the bird by her ear and listened for a moment.

”Boss Hann is indeed a hunter from a village outside, and a very skilled one at that. But recently he really hasn’t gone out hunting. Instead he stays in his room every day, burning incense and chanting sutras...”

”Heh, I knew it.”

Fang Zheng let out a dry chuckle.

”Has he stopped eating meat too?”

”...Yeah, he has. I heard Boss Hann used to be unable to go a meal without meat, but now he eats vegetarian every meal, doesn’t touch anything greasy or meaty.”

At this, Daji frowned.

”Your Majesty, Boss Hann isn’t some rabbit Yokai, so what’s with him eating only greens all day?”

”No kidding. If I wanted to have a meal, I’d also hope my dinner could wash itself squeaky clean and then jump up on its own to deliver itself straight into my mouth, wouldn’t I?”

Fang Zheng snorted coldly, a flash of killing intent passing through his eyes. Not touching meat means not approaching blood and qi. Without blood and qi, a person’s soul and body become ’pure’. But don’t think that’s some good thing. It’s like the blood in your veins—if you think it’s unsightly and swap it out for pure water instead, I guarantee you’ll die faster than anyone.

Of course, a corpse that’s been rinsed through with pure water, with the blood stench removed, naturally becomes more palatable, doesn’t it?

”Should I send someone to bring that Boss Hann over?”

”No, that wouldn’t be ideal... Hmm, right.”

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng’s eyes lit up.

”I’ve got a way!”

It’s just hoodwinking people, right? You can scam, but I can’t? Who is Laozi? A game planner. And what do game planners do? Specialize in scamming players and investors, okay? If you can’t use a DEMO build to fool players into thinking it’s actual launch content, what kind of planner are you?

Being able to calmly grab Chapter one of the game and call it a standalone title, while claiming the rest is ’DLC still in development’, that’s what makes a qualified planner.

”Daji!”

With that thought, Fang Zheng snapped his fingers with a ”pop”, and Daji immediately came to his side. Fang Zheng then lowered his head and whispered in her ear.

”You go... first do this... then this... and finally this... Got it?”

”No problem. But Your Majesty, will this really work?”

”Heh, he plays the first of the month, I’ll play the fifteenth. I want to see whether those bastards dare show themselves. And if they don’t...”

At this, Fang Zheng’s lips curled, revealing a ferocious grin.

”Then they can’t blame me for not being polite.”

That day, the rain poured down in torrents.

Under the pouring rain, even the cicadas in the trees sounded weak, and most of the people who had been working the fields earlier had already gone back into their houses to escape the storm. Yet on this small path, a young Scholar in a blue robe was trudging along, step by step, with a book basket on his back and sweat streaming down his face. At last, the young man seemed unable to bear the beating rain anymore and had to duck under a nearby tree to take shelter.

Just then, a voice called out from behind him.

”Hey, young fellow over there, come over here and get out of the rain.”

The young Scholar turned his head and saw that the door of a Farmstead not far away had opened. An old granny stood in the doorway beckoning to him. The young Scholar did not hesitate in the slightest, hurriedly got to his feet, walked over to the door, and bowed with clasped hands.

”Many thanks, granny.”

”Oh, don’t be so polite, hurry on in, hurry on in.”

The old woman quickly pulled the young Scholar into the house, then shut the door.

”Quick, your clothes are soaked through. Take them over by the hearth and warm them a bit.”

”Ah, thank you so much. Then I’ll be troubling you.......”

The young man hurriedly took off his robe and laid it by the stove to dry, then sat himself down. The old woman also hastily brought over a cup of hot tea.

”Here, you must be freezing, right? Say, you’re a young fellow—what are you doing out in weather like this?”

”Hahaha, I don’t really know much about that.......”

”Morning Asaka, don’t go out; evening glow, you can travel a thousand li. Young man, you ought to remember these things more, keep them in mind.”

”Yes, thank you for the advice, granny.”

The young Scholar rubbed his hands as he nodded and grinned at the old woman. But when he got a good look at her face, he froze for a moment, only recovering his smile after a short pause.

It was just a brief instant, but the old woman was no dim, muddle-headed crone; naturally she sensed it. Since he said nothing, she also chose not to ask, only smiling as she set tea and a few snacks before the young Scholar to treat her guest, and did not mention anything else.

During this time, however, the old woman noticed that the young Scholar kept sneaking glances at her. It wasn’t the kind of leering look with bad intentions, but more like he’d noticed something and felt it hard to speak of directly. That made the old woman somewhat uneasy. She felt perfectly fine herself, nothing wrong at all. So she thought it over, then smiled and looked at the young Scholar.

”Scholar, is there something wrong with this old woman of yours?”

”Eh?”

Faced with her question, the young Scholar was clearly startled. He waved his hands quickly.

”No, no, no, um......sorry, elder, I truly didn’t mean to offend.......”

”Hehehe, it’s all right, it’s all right. But you kept looking at me just now......Morpheus, is there something going on?”

”Well.........”

At this, the young Scholar hesitated for a moment, then suddenly let out a long sigh and turned to the old woman.

”Um......elder, don’t be upset at what I’m about to say......have you, perhaps......met with misfortune lately?”

”Met with misfortune?”

At his question, the old woman was taken aback, then nodded.

”Yes. Some time ago I went down to the fields and accidentally fell and broke my leg. I had to stay in bed resting for a long while.......”

”Oh, so that’s how it is.......”

The young Scholar silently nodded, then fell quiet, seemingly unwilling to pursue the topic further. But the old woman clearly wasn’t about to just let it drop.

”Tell me, young man, is there some deeper meaning to that?”

”Um......well.......”

Hearing her ask, the young man let out a slight sigh, then looked at her as though steeling himself.

”Elder, I’ll be frank with you. Just now, I saw Demon Aura coiling around you......I suspect you’ve run into a Yokai recently!”

”Run into a Yokai?”

”Yes. This......I once studied a bit of this sort of thing under my master, so I can see it......Elder, there’s still a strand of Demon Aura lingering around you right now.”

”How could there be a Yokai?”

At this, the old woman was so frightened she stood straight up, and the young Scholar quickly reached out a hand.

”Please don’t panic, elder, don’t panic. Tell me, recently......have you come across anything strange?”

”If you mean strange things.........”

At this point, the old woman hesitated slightly, then glanced toward the back rooms and lowered her voice.

”There have indeed been a few strange things. Let me tell you: our eldest boy went up the mountain hunting some days ago, and when he came back, I don’t know what kind of madness took him. He said he’d never be a hunter again, and even threw away all the property his father left him. And now, all he eats every day is plain rice and greens, won’t go out at all, locks himself in his room day in, day out. I’ve no idea what he’s doing in there. Ah......this old woman can’t help but worry. Tell me, young man, could this be from running into a Yokai?”

”This.........”

The young Scholar’s expression grew somewhat doubtful.

”Well......it’s hard for me to say for sure......but if possible, I’d like to meet your son. What do you think?”